diff --git a/cJSON_Utils.c b/cJSON_Utils.c
index f0f9094..9d07fac 100644
--- a/cJSON_Utils.c
+++ b/cJSON_Utils.c
@@ -499,6 +499,7 @@ static cJSON *sort_list(cJSON *list, const cJSON_bool case_sensitive)
     {
         /* Split the lists */
         second->prev->next = NULL;
+        second->prev = NULL;
     }
 
     /* Recursively sort the sub-lists. */